With the advent of the “ear of high-speed railways”, the space–time distance between cities has drastically decreased. The opening of high-speed railways has not only increased the factor-flow speed across regions, but has also reduced the cost of factor movement. However, there is some controversy about whether high-speed railways can be used to promote regional economic growth. The Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway is the earliest section of the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway, and it was the first high-speed railway in China with a real speed of 350 km per hour. The Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway opening spawned a three-hour economic circle in the south of China, injected new vitality into the economic and social development along the line, and had an important impact on accelerating regional economic interoperability and integration. Taking this into account, this paper took the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway as the case study. Firstly, this paper used the theory of system dynamics to analyze the mechanism of the impact of high-speed railway opening on regional economic growth. Secondly, the accessibility model was used to analyze the impact of the high-speed railway opening on the accessibility of cities along the line, and a difference-in-differences model (DID) was used to explore the impact of the high-speed railway opening on regional economic growth. Finally, on the basis of the analysis of the previous mechanism, the mechanism of the impact of the high-speed railway on regional economic growth is discussed. The results of this study show the following: (1) Since the opening of the high-speed railway, the accessibility of cities along the line has grown by more than 60%. (2) The opening of the high-speed railway has promoted regional economic growth, mainly through the influence mechanism of “increasing the total cargo volume”. This study not only scientifically and quantitatively analyzed the impact of the opening of high-speed rail on regional economic growth, taking the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway as an example for empirical analysis, but also further summarized the high-speed railway construction achievements in China and provides reference experience for planning the opening of high-speed railways.

Science and technology innovation is the new driving force of urban development, and it is an important vehicle to promote financial development. Innovative city attaches importance to the driving role of science and technology innovation capacity on industry development in the construction process, which will drive the development of the city’s financial industry. This article takes China’s innovative city pilot policy as a quasinatural experiment and uses the panel data of 235 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2017 to construct a difference-in-differences model (DID) to investigate the net effect and mechanism of the policy implementation on the financial development level of pilot cities. The results show the following: (1) the construction of innovative cities has significantly improved the financial development level of pilot cities, and the conclusion is still valid through the robustness test; (2) the financial development level promotion effect of innovative city construction has regional heterogeneity, and the financial development level promotion effect of central cities is more significant; (3) the construction of innovative cities can improve the financial development level of pilot cities by improving the intermediary effect of scientific and technological talents gathering and industrial structure upgrading.

With the growing global focus on sustainable development, the recognition of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles continues to expand. Aligned with the “dual-carbon” goal, ESG performance has become a critical factor in corporate strategic decision-making, driving listed companies to integrate ESG strategies for long-term value creation. This study examines the impact of ESG performance on firm value and its underlying mechanisms using data from China's A-share listed manufacturing firms from 2011 to 2023. The results indicate that: (1) ESG performance has a significant positive impact on firm value, a conclusion that remains robust across multiple sensitivity and robustness tests. (2) Mechanism analysis indicates that ESG performance enhances firm value primarily by increasing organizational visibility. (3) Executive incentives positively moderate the relationship between ESG performance and firm value, further amplifying the value-enhancing effect of ESG performance. (4) Heterogeneity analysis suggests that ESG performance has a stronger impact on firm value in non-state-owned firms, non-heavily polluting sectors, businesses in regions with high marketization, and firms facing weaker environmental regulatory constraints. This study provides empirical evidence to guide policymakers and corporate managers in effectively integrating ESG strategies to promote sustainable development alongside financial performance.

Using panel data from 273 prefecture-level cities in China from 2008 to 2020, this study employs the Entropy Weight Method -Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (EWM-TOPSIS) model to measure people’s well-being and applies a staggered Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to evaluate the impact of the carbon emissions trading system on people’s well-being. The findings indicate that the carbon emissions trading system generally improves people’s well-being. The mechanism analysis reveals that the primary channel through which the carbon emissions trading system improves people’s well-being is the stimulation of green technology innovation. Additionally, fiscal expenditure decentralization negatively moderates the carbon emissions trading system’s impact on people’s well-being, whereas marketization degree does not exert a moderating effect. Further research reveals that fiscal expenditure decentralization exhibits a double threshold effect, while the degree of marketization displays a single threshold effect. The carbon emissions trading system exhibits heterogeneous impacts on people’s well-being. From a regional perspective, the carbon emissions trading system enhances people’s well-being in non-Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) regions, whereas it dampens people’s well-being in YREB cities. Regarding resource endowment, the carbon emissions trading system positively influences people’s well-being in non-resource-based cities, but its impact remains statistically insignificant in resource-based cities.

The carbon emissions trading system (CETS) is a crucial market-based tool aimed at achieving the goals of “carbon peaking” and “carbon neutrality”, and plays a pivotal role in promoting the green development of the logistics industry. The green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the logistics industry is a key indicator used to measure the green development level of the logistics industry. The research on the CETS and the GTFP in the logistics industry(LGTFP) is currently lacking. Accurately assessing the impact of CETS on LGFP is crucial for improving the construction of the CETS and promoting the green transformation of the logistics industry. Utilizing a combined approach of system dynamics and econometrics, this study examines the effects of CETS on the LGFTP. In this study, the impact mechanism of CETS on the LGTFP is analyzed by constructing a causal relationship diagram using system dynamics theory. And then, we construct a multi-period differencein- difference (DID) model using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces spanning from 2010 to 2020 to verify the impact of CETS on LGTFP. The findings reveal that: (1) CETS significantly promotes LGTFP, and this conclusion is consistent even after conducting robustness tests. (2) Green technological innovation is identified as the primary influencing mechanism of CETS in enhancing LGTFP, while industrial upgrading does not play a positive mediating role, contrary to established studies. (3) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that CETS has a significant promotion effect on LGTFP in central and western regions, and resource-based provinces, but not yet in eastern regions and non-resource-based provinces. Based on the empirical analysis, we propose relevant policy recommendations to improve China’s CETS and promote the improvement of LGTFP.